2 pp. / Warm temperatures increase the risk for food-borne illness which can spoil cook-outs and picnics. This article provides information about the necessary precautions to take in order to assure the food you serve is safe to eat.

1p. / Keeping food safe to eat is as simple as keeping hot foods hot, cold foods cold, and all foods clean. This article outlines particular options for keeping coolers cold.

1p. / Most of the "bad food" reported illnesses are due to bacterial contamination. Nearly all of these cases can be linked to improper food handling, both in our homes and in restaurants. This article briefly discusses the causes of food contamination and how to handle food safely.

Consumer advice is provided for cooking ground beef to the correct temperature to prevent food-borne illness.

Revised; Originally Published: 2007 / 2 pp.

Demonstrating compliance with food safety requirements of the global economy is a prerequisite for access. As tariff barriers diminish, developing countries are exposed to greater opportunities for repositioning their food manufacturing sectors in global value chains (GVCs). At the same time, the measures for the protection of public health and safety are becoming more stringent because of the series of food safety crises that characterised the global food value chain in the 1980s and 1990s, and that still linger on. The new demands arising from the need to protect consumer safety, coupled with the structure of the global economy have introduced new challenges for developing countries in terms of accessing the global food manufacturing value chain(GFMVC) with manufactured products. This is the case for the Ghanaian food manufacturing sector. Therefore, this study aims to understand the practice of developing food safety capability to enhance access to the GFMVC using high value added products, to identify performance gaps in the Ghanaian context and propose an appropriate framework (legal, institutional and policy) to address the major gaps, while meeting the basic requirements of food safety. A multiple case study methodology was adopted, using the UK food and drinks sector as a benchmark for the Ghanaian food manufacturing sector. The main techniques employed for data collection were surveys, interviews and content analysis. Based on the findings and insights gathered from the investigation, a technical regulation based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) is proposed as a means to enhance the compliance of enterprises in Ghana with the basic requirements of food safety. Because of the current lack of capability at the national and enterprise level, a four-phase implementation plan is recommended to progressively ease enterprises into mandatory compliance with integrated food safety management systems. The study also recommends that the current multiple agency structure is maintained, however, mandates, roles and responsibilities, and jurisdictions need to be clarified, and values reformed. Various kinds of support (e.g. funds, training) also have to be provided to enterprises to facilitate their compliance and enhance their access to the GFMVC.

Anglický abstrakt The Food Law in the Czech Republic and in Foreign Countries The purpose of my thesis is to analyse and characterise the food law in the Czech Republic and in selected foreign countries. The thesis focuses on providing comprehensive view of the general part of food law but also discusses selected aspects of food law and related issues. The reason for my thesis is my long-term interest in the field of human nutrition. Therefore I intended to gain some knowledge of the legal framework of food. My thesis is based on the aproach of analysis and synthesis. I also use the linguistic, logical and historical method in my thesis. The comparative method is used in the two last chapters (Chapter Twelve and Thirteen) which deal with the comparison of food law in the Czech Republic and selected countries. The text of my thesis is divided into chapters, subchapters and parts. The thesis is composed of fourteen chapters (including Preface - Chapter One, Introduction - Chapter Two and Conclusions - Chapter Fourteen). Chapter Three and Four are introductory and define the position of food law in the system of Czech law and also define basic terminology (food, food law) and outline relevant Czech, European and International sources of law. Chapter Five explores the evolution of food legislation in the Czech...

Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Ted C. Schroeder / This study focuses on the effects of food safety recalls on a firm’s shareholder value. In this study, the effects of six recalls are studied using the event study method. Three models were used involving the daily stock returns for each recall, the daily prices from the S&P 500 and the S&P 500-Packaged Foods and Meats prices. Each of these models was used to determine the abnormal returns for the individual recalls during a determined event window. The four companies responsible for the recalls are all large, highly-diversified food production companies. Overall, the results from this study show there is short-term effect on shareholder values for the companies included in this study. This is an important topic that was widely studied in the late 1990’s and early part of the 2000’s. There have not been any notable studies in this area in the past decade which is why this study is useful. Results of this study are comparable to those mentioned in the literature review section.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agricultural Economics / Glynn Tonsor / Few things facing the U.S. meat industry in recent years have garnered more attention of economic researchers than food safety events, policies, and mitigation efforts. This dissertation has two main essays and themes focusing on both domestic and international food safety issues. Contributing new insights to this situation, the impacts of FSIS (Food Safety Inspection Service) recalls on consumer meat demand in the United States are estimated by a series of Rotterdam models in the first study using monthly grocery-scanner data. Multiple model specifications are employed to further assess effects across meat products and geographic regions. Recall variables are constructed separately as beef E. coli recall, beef non-E. coli recall, pork recall, and poultry recall variables to facilitate finer assessment of demand impacts. Results suggest beef E. coli recalls significantly reduce the demand for ground beef contemporaneously among most, but not all, regions in the United States. The ultimate finding of food safety effects neither being fully homogeneous nor entirely heterogeneous warrants appreciation. In order to protect domestic consumers and meat industries from potential food safety hazards, some member countries of the WTO implement sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures as non-tariff barriers. The second study focuses on investigating the determinants of red meat trade patterns and associated impacts of SPS regulations. This analysis uses multiple product-level gravity equation models and PPML (Poisson Pesudo Maximum-likelihood estimators to overcome sample selection bias and heteroscedasticity and examine the trade relationship among other factors. Results indicate that, trade values of frozen beef and pork are significantly reduced by the implementation of SPS measures. Also, the spillover effects across meat products on trade were detected which provides essential information to the meat industry, policy makers, and trade representatives.

Master of Science / Food Science / Sajid Alavi / Validation studies on process equipment are an important step for effective pathogenic control during dry expanded pet food manufacturing. The preconditioner is used to hydrate, mix and pre-cook raw materials before extrusion of pet food. The High-Intensity-Preconditioner (HIP) was designed with two independently driven shafts, thus offering control of both shaft speed and rotational direction with potential for improving residence time and thus pathogen inactivation. Residence time distribution (RTD) of raw dog food mix was impacted by the HIP process parameters (average residence time varying between 104-178 s for dry experiment and 65-177 s with steam addition) depending on shaft speed and direction. In general, increase in shaft speed resulted in shorter residence time with the larger shaft having a greater impact than the smaller shaft. Rotational direction of shafts also had an effect on average residence time (a maximum difference of 37 s was noticed between treatments with different shaft directions and the same speed). The uniformity of residence time distribution (difference of 97-132 s between 15 and 85 percentiles of the cumulative RTD) also varied considerably with process conditions, with uniformity increasing with shaft speed.  Enterococcus faecium (ATCC® 8459™) was chosen as a surrogate for Salmonella for microbial inactivation studies on the HIP. Both HIP shaft speed (200 and 300 rpm) and process temperature (67-70°C and 89-91°C) impacted E.faecium survival. Lower shaft speed (corresponding to longer residence time) or higher temperature led to greater E.faecium inactivation. A 5 log CFU/g of E.faecium was reduced using selective agar (m-Enterococcus or mE agar) after treatment with high temperature, but approximately 3.5 log CFU/g of E.faecium reduced on non-selective agar (Brain Heart Infusion or BHI agar). Uneven heat distribution, inadequate residence time and system instability might have negatively affected the inactivation. Microbial inactivation, with E.faecium as surrogate, was also studied for the complete dry expanded pet food process using a pilot-scale single-screw extruder with a regular double shaft preconditioner. Meal was inoculated with E.faecium at 6 log CFU/g and processed. Preconditioner downspout temperature ranged from 89-94°C and extrusion die temperature was between 120-140°C. Complete inactivation was observed after extrusion.